This week in Transportation: DOT contender meets the press

A rumored contender to replace departing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will talk with reporters for the first time since the job became available this week.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairwoman Deborah Hersman will attended a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor Wednesday.

Hersman is scheduled to discuss her agency's investigation of the Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" battery issues that have led to the airplane being grounded.

However, she is likely to also face questions about her interest in replacing LaHood atop the Department of Transportation. 

Hersman said prior to LaHood's announcement that she is not interested in the Transportation secretary job, saying she is focused on her current position.

She might be attractive to President Obama as a potential Transportation secretary pick because he's come under fire for lacking gender diversity in his first round of picks for Cabinet positions in his second term, however. Obama's appointments for the secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury and the head of the CIA are all white men.

Also this, the focus of the American auto industry will shift from Detroit to the capital area as the Washington Auto Show takes places.

The annual D.C. auto show, which began on Feb. 1, is scheduled to last until Feb. 10.

Outgoing Energy Secretary Steven Chu will address the auto show on Thursday, in what will likely be one of his final public appearances as a member of Obama's Cabinet. Chu, like LaHood, announced last week that he would be resigning, pending the confirmation of his successor.

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